Coping with Ex-ante Regulations for Planting Bt Maize: The Portuguese Experience

This article investigates the attitude and practices of Bt and non-Bt maize farmers in Portugal. Thirty-seven Bt maize farmers were interviewed, representing 22.5% of the total number of Bt maize notifications in the country and 31.5% of the total area planted with Bt maize in 2007. Additionally, 66 non-Bt maize farmers were surveyed in an attempt to investigate their opinion on the Bt technology, its viability, and its future. The most interesting finding is that almost half of all the surveyed maize farmers stated that the ex-ante regulations are rigid and difficult to appl

Effect of pyramiding Bt and CpTI genes on resistance of cotton to Helicoverpa armigera (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) under laboratory and field conditions

Transgenic cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) varieties, adapted to China, have been bred that express two genes for resistance to insects. the Cry1Ac gene from Bacillus thuringiensis (Berliner) (Bt), and a trypsin inhibitor gene from cowpea (CpTI). Effectiveness of the double gene modification in conferring resistance to cotton bollworm, Helicoverpa armigera (Hübner) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae), was studied in laboratory and field experiments. In each experiment, performance of Bt+CpTI cotton was compared with Bt cotton and to a conventional nontransgenic variety. Larval survival was lower on both types of transgenic variety, compared with the conventional cotton. Survival of first-, second-, and third-stage larvae was lower on Bt+CpTI cotton than on Bt cotton. Plant structures differed in level of resistance, and these differences were similar on Bt and Bt+CpTI cotton. Likewise, seasonal trends in level of resistance in different plant structures were similar in Bt and Bt+CpTI cotton. Both types of transgenic cotton interfered with development of sixth-stage larvae to adults, and no offspring was produced by H. armigera that fed on Bt or Bt+CpTI cotton from the sixth stage onward. First-, second-, and third-stage larvae spent significantly less time feeding on transgenic cotton than on conventional cotton, and the reduction in feeding time was significantly greater on Bt+CpTI cotton than on Bt cotton. Food conversion efficiency was lower on transgenic varieties than on conventional cotton, but there was no significant difference between Bt and Bt+CpTI cotton. In 3-yr field experimentation, bollworm densities were greatly suppressed on transgenic as compared with conventional cotton, but no significant differences between Bt and Bt+CpTI cotton were found. Overall, the results from laboratory work indicate that introduction of the CpTI gene in Bt cotton raises some components of resistance in cotton against H. armigera, but enhanced control of H. armigera under field conditions, due to expression of the CpTI gene, was not demonstrate

Susceptibility of the Endangered Karner Blue Butterfly (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae) to \u3ci\u3eBacillus Thuringiensis\u3c/i\u3e Var. \u3ci\u3eKurstaki\u3c/i\u3e Used for Gypsy Moth Suppression in Michigan

We investigated the phenological and physiological susceptibility of the endangered Karner blue butterfly (Lycaeides melissa samuelis) to Bacillus thuringiensis var. kurstaki (Bt), a product widely used for gypsy moth (Lymantria dispar) suppression in Michigan and other infested states. We monitored phenology of the bivoltine Karner blue in two regions of Michigan from 1993 to 1995 to determine if larval stages overlapped temporally with the period of Bt application for gypsy moth suppression. Karner blue larvae of the spring generation were found during the period that Bt was applied in nearby areas in 1993 only. However, spring-generation adults or newly laid eggs were observed up to 11 days before applications in 1994 and 1995. Since Karner blue eggs develop within one week, summer-generation larvae were most likely present during or shortly after 1994 and 1995 Bt application periods. These larvae would have been at risk, assuming Bt persistence of 4 to 6 days. Physiological susceptibility of Karner blue larvae to Bt was determined in a laboratory bioassay. Larvae were reared on wild lupine (Lupinus perennis) foliage that was untreated, or sprayed with Bt formulations at rates of 30-37 or 90 BIU/ha. A similar bioassay with second instar gypsy moth larvae on similarly treated white oak (Quercus alba) foliage was conducted concurrently. Karner blue survival was 100%, 27% and 14% on control, low and high Bt treatments, respectively. Early and late Karner blue instars were equally susceptible to Bt. Survival of gypsy moth was 80%, 33% and 5% on control, low and high Bt treatments, respectively, and did not differ significantly from Karner blue survival. We conclude that Karner blue is both phenologically and physiologically susceptible to Bt used for gypsy moth suppression, although the larval generation at risk and extent of phenological overlap may vary from year to year

A bounded jump for the bounded Turing degrees

We define the bounded jump of A by A^b = {x | Exists i <= x [phi_i (x) converges and Phi_x^[A|phi_i(x)](x) converges} and let A^[nb] denote the n-th bounded jump. We demonstrate several properties of the bounded jump, including that it is strictly increasing and order preserving on the bounded Turing (bT) degrees (also known as the weak truth-table degrees). We show that the bounded jump is related to the Ershov hierarchy. Indeed, for n > 1 we have X <=_[bT] 0^[nb] iff X is omega^n-c.e. iff X <=_1 0^[nb], extending the classical result that X <=_[bT] 0' iff X is omega-c.e. Finally, we prove that the analogue of Shoenfield inversion holds for the bounded jump on the bounded Turing degrees. That is, for every X such that 0^b <=_[bT] X <=_[bT] 0^[2b], there is a Y <=_[bT] 0^b such that Y^b =_[bT] X.Comment: 22 pages. Minor changes for publicatio